The identification by Italian investigators of an initial list of defendants accused of the 2016 killing of Italian student Guilio Regeni in Egypt marks a critical development in the case. An initial list of 26 names was pared down to 10 politicians and officials.

Regeni’s mother, Paola Deffendi, revealed in a press conference on Monday at the Italian Senate that the family now knows who killed their son after torturing him, as well as where the crime took place. Alessandra Ballerini, the family lawyer, also said at the presser that Regeni was killed in an area that falls under the control of an Egyptian security apparatus.

An Italian government source, speaking to Mada Masr on condition of anonymity, revealed that Italian investigators prepared a list of 26 figures whom evidence implicates in the killing of Regeni.

“In order to preserve the relations between the two countries, names of politicians and officials working in sovereign executive bodies have been removed from the list,” the source said. “The responsibility of some of them is limited to knowledge of the crime, given their positions. We also removed names of those who intervened in the case after Regeni’s death.”